ITU Ranked among the World’s Top 100 in Two Categories of Innovation‑Focused Rankings

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) has achieved significant global recognition in the WURI 2026’s category‑based rankings, placing 56th in “Digital and AI Transformation in Strategy and Management” and 100th in “Crisis Management.”

According to the 2026 World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI), ITU achieved remarkable positions worldwide across the thematic category lists.

ITU ranked 56th globally in the newly introduced, technology‑driven category, Digital and AI Transformation in Strategy and Management (Top 100 – B3).

In the Crisis Management (Top 100 – A5) category, the university secured the 100th position worldwide.

These achievements demonstrate that ITU—one of the world’s most established technical universities with a 253‑year legacy—has firmly embedded innovation into its institutional culture.

WURI ranking methodology

Within the WURI framework, universities are evaluated in both general and thematic areas.

The ranking is structured around three axes—A: For Whom to Innovate, B: How to Innovate, and C: What to Innovate —under which 24 categories are assessed. Each category is evaluated based on novelty, applicability, and impact.

The Global Top 500 Innovative Universities list reflects institutions’ overall performance across all categories.

The Top 100 in Twenty‑Four Categories ranking highlights universities’ strengths in thematic areas such as industrial application, entrepreneurialism, and generative artificial intelligence.

Click here to access the WURI 2026 results.

ITU: A center of impact‑driven innovation

ITU’s responsibility‑ and impact‑oriented research vision integrates innovation through units such as the ITU GİNOVA Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, the ITU Social Innovation Center (SIM), and the Sustainability Office.

ITU is the only university from Türkiye that is a member of EELISA, the European alliance aiming to strengthen engineering students’ research, innovation, and talent capacities. ITU is also among the founding institutions of the Alliance. During the “Grand Meetings” hosted by ITU, Rector Prof. Dr Hasan Mandal assumed the Chair of the EELISA Governing Board. Prof. Dr. Mandal handed over the chairmanship at the end of the term to UPM Rector Prof. Dr. Óscar García Suárez.

The EELISA Innovation Ecosystem, InnoCORE, and EELISA Communities stand out as structures that reinforce ITU’s innovative capabilities.

The ITU Platform Projects and the Türkiye Technical Universities Union Platform Projects, along with thematic on‑campus laboratories, represent pioneering models of collaborative innovation.

Through the Pan‑European Seal (PES) Traineeship Program, ITU provides its students with paid internship opportunities in Europe. The university aims to enhance both the quantity and quality of patents and licenses generated within its ecosystem. In this context, ITU has hosted numerous training sessions and meetings over the past year.

ITU also played a critical role in the NATO Innovation Continuum (IC) 2025 SPARK and SHINE stages through its Maritime Faculty, and will host the WAITRO Summit 2026. WAITRO is known as “a global innovation family.”

As a first in Türkiye, ITU has launched Innovative Minor Programs for its students. Initially introduced with seven programs, the initiative will soon expand with additional minors.

The ITUTECH Program strengthens innovation‑oriented thinking by transforming project teams and academic projects into ventures that create real market value. ITU is also a partner in De‑TECH, a comprehensive initiative supporting the transformation of deep‑tech ideas into startups.

The newly launched National Technology Workshop provides an entrepreneurship‑focused environment for project teams.

Student‑led clubs and initiatives—such as the Volunteering Club and ITU CORAL—carry out impactful work in social innovation. ITU students will make significant contributions to COP 31 and IAC 2026, both of which will be held in Türkiye.

ITU: Türkiye’s pioneer in digital transformation and artificial intelligence

ITU prioritizes digital transformation and artificial intelligence across critical domains, including materials science and new nuclear technologies, disaster management, energy security, space technologies, autonomous systems, telecommunications, and quantum technologies.

University-industry collaborations, joint research laboratories, Research and Application Centers such as ITU-BTS DIAM and TUA UZ-DES, multi-stakeholder platforms like AI EDIH Türkiye, ENERA, iMAT, projects, and scientific research are implemented with the goal of producing strategic-level outputs.

The ITU Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Application and Research Center and the Big Data Office play key roles in ensuring that digital transformation and AI are effectively integrated into institutional strategy and governance.

The Integrated Big Data Platform (BeeHub), launched in 2022, enables real‑time monitoring, as well as daily, weekly, and monthly monitoring and evaluation of institutional data. BeeHub received the Digital Transformation and Big Data Studies Award within the YÖK 2023 Outstanding Achievement Awards.

ITU: Effective in crisis management through a preventive approach

Committed to informing the public swiftly and accurately during crises and providing scientific guidance to society, ITU conducts solution‑oriented work on disasters and emergencies—particularly earthquakes, landslides, floods, and wildfires.

The university hosts key institutions such as the Disaster Management Institute, the ITU CURE Centre for Post‑Crisis Urban Reconstruction, and the Türkiye İşbank Marmara Active Fault Hazard and Risk Application and Research Center (MATAM)

With its academics and students, ITU produces innovative outputs on disaster preparedness, effective response, resilience, cascading hazards, humanitarian crises, and post‑crisis reconstruction.